‘Fast and Furious 7′ Delayed But Not Deterred by Paul Walker’s Death

As reported yesterday, 'Fast and Furious' star Paul Walker died tragically in a car crash in California at the age of 40. Walker and his co-stars were taking a Thanksgiving break from filming 'Fast and Furious 7,' which was scheduled to resume shooting next week -- but with the star's life cut short, Universal, director James Wan, and the rest of the team behind the upcoming film face an unfortunate question: how will they proceed with production on the sequel? News has broken today that shooting on the film has been delayed, but 'Fast and Furious 7' is still very much happening.

THR reports that Walker and the rest of the 'Fast and Furious 7' crew had been scheduled to resume filming this coming Monday. When news of Walker's tragic death broke, director James Wan and executives at Universal held an emergency conference call this morning to discuss a plan of action and whether rewrites will be necessary. The majority of the film has been shot already, including Walker's role, but the crew was scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi in January to shoot additional scenes. It's unclear whether those scenes will be scrapped entirely or if his part in them will simply be written out.

The film is scheduled to hit theaters next July and has already been on a very tight schedule. Justin Lin, who helmed the previous 'Fast and Furious' films bowed out of 'Fast and Furious 7' due to the tight shooting schedule, and was replaced by Wan.

Universal has declined to comment on the status of 'Fast and Furious 7' or the future of the franchise, but we expect to know more in the coming weeks.